Larry LaLonde | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Reid Laurence LaLonde |
Also known as | Ler |
Born | Oakland, California, U.S. | September 12, 1968
Genres | |
Occupation | Guitarist |
Years active | 1984–present |
Member of | Primus |
Formerly of |
Reid Laurence "Larry" LaLonde (born September 12, 1968), also known as Ler LaLonde, is an American musician. He has been the guitarist for the rock band Primus since 1989, where he is known for his experimental accompaniment to the bass playing of bandmate Les Claypool. Previously, he played guitar for several groups including Possessed and Blind Illusion. He also has collaborated more recently with artists such as Serj Tankian and Tom Waits.
LaLonde was born in Oakland, California. Originally inspired by guitarists such as Frank Zappa, Snakefinger, East Bay Ray, Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, and his teacher Joe Satriani, [1] LaLonde eventually became interested in early thrash metal bands such as Metallica and Slayer. LaLonde formed his first band in high school, a speed metal band called Blizzard. He left the band later on to join the first generation death metal band Possessed. Possessed's landmark first album, Seven Churches , was released in 1985 when LaLonde was just 17 years old. According to LaLonde, he earned the nickname "Ler" at a young age because his friends were too lazy to say his middle name in its entirety. [2]
After Seven Churches, Possessed released the Beyond the Gates album and The Eyes of Horror EP before breaking up in 1987. LaLonde then joined experimental thrash metal band Blind Illusion, appearing on the 1988 album The Sane Asylum , through which he became friends with bassist Les Claypool. At around the same time, he was also a member of Corrupted Morals, with whom he recorded the album Cheese-It, released the following year. [3] At the start of 1989, LaLonde left Blind Illusion and Corrupted Morals when Claypool invited him to reform the funk metal outfit Primus, which had been on hiatus since original guitarist Todd Huth left the previous year.
With LaLonde on board, together with drummer Tim Alexander, Primus released their first album, the live Suck on This , in 1989, followed by the studio album Frizzle Fry in 1990. In 1991, came their major label debut Sailing the Seas of Cheese . The band's next studio album, Pork Soda , arrived in 1993 and landed in the Billboard Top 10. Tales from the Punchbowl followed in 1995, featuring one of Primus's most well-known songs, the single "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver," which was nominated for the 1996 Grammy for "Best Hard Rock Performance." Alexander left Primus in 1996 to be replaced by Bryan Mantia, and the group released two more albums, Brown Album in 1997 and Antipop in 1999, before going on hiatus in 2000.
In 2002, Primus returned from their hiatus with Claypool and LaLonde reuniting with Alexander, releasing the DVD/EP Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People in 2003 and the Hallucino-Genetics live DVD in 2004. On October 17, 2006, Primus released both their first greatest hits CD They Can't All Be Zingers and their third DVD Blame It on the Fish: An Abstract Look at the 2003 Primus Tour de Fromage.
In 2010, early Primus drummer Jay Lane rejoined the group, and they released the free June 2010 Rehearsal digital EP. A new album, titled Green Naugahyde , was released on September 13, 2011. [4]
In 2014, Tim Alexander rejoined the group and they released their 8th studio album "Primus & the Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble", a re-imagining of the soundtrack for the 1971 film "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory". In 2017, Primus released their 9th studio album "The Desaturating Seven", which would then be followed by an EP in 2022 titled "Conspiranoid".
Interviewed by Zorak, LaLonde guest-starred in the live-action/animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast on Cartoon Network.
During the Primus hiatus, LaLonde formed the experimental alternative band No Forcefield with Bryan Mantia, releasing two albums between 2000 and 2002.
In 2007 and 2008, LaLonde toured with Serj Tankian and the F.C.C. in support of the album Elect the Dead . Two live tracks featuring LaLonde were later released on the digital EP Lie Lie Live . Throughout 2011, he recorded several tracks for the 2012 game Twisted Metal .
Known for his technical proficiency as a guitar player, LaLonde uses many advanced guitar techniques such as pinch harmonics, sweep picking, pick tapping, volume swells and tapping, as well as other extended techniques in his music. His influences include funk, world music, heavy metal and film music. Melodically his playing makes heavy use of tritone intervals, the whole tone scale and the diminished scale, helping establish Primus’ hard, dissonant, dark sound.
In addition to being Primus' guitar player, LaLonde is also an avid skateboarder. He was the skater who knocked the nachos out of Bob Cock's hand in the music video for "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver".
LaLonde currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Shane Stirling, a model from the CBS show The Price Is Right , and their two children Sierra and Avery. [5] In January 2025, their home was destroyed in the Palisades Fire. [6]
Leslie Edward Claypool is an American rock musician. He is the founder, lead singer, bassist, and primary songwriter of the band Primus. Listed as one of the greatest bassists of all time by Rolling Stone, his playing style mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends, and slapping.
Primus is an American rock band formed in El Sobrante, California in 1984. The band is currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool and guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by drummer Jay Lane, though the latter two had departed the band by the beginning of 1989, and were replaced by LaLonde and Tim "Herb" Alexander respectively.
Sailing the Seas of Cheese is the second studio album and major label debut by the American rock band Primus. It was released on May 14, 1991, through Interscope Records. It spawned three singles: "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver", "Tommy the Cat", and "Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers".
Suck on This is a live album by the American rock band Primus, released in 1989. At the time of recording, the featured lineup of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry LaLonde and drummer Tim Alexander had only been playing together for "about two months". This release, along with Jane's Addiction's self-titled live album, are seen as popularizing the then-underground alternative metal genre.
Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People is a career-spanning retrospective DVD plus bonus EP by American band Primus, released on October 7, 2003. The title was inspired by a crayon-made story book written by guitarist Larry LaLonde's son, and the cover depicts a sculpture made by long-time Primus collaborator Lance "Link" Montoya. The DVD features all of the band's music videos to date, plus short films and live footage from as far back as 1986, whereas the bonus EP features five new songs written and recorded specifically for this release. When promoting the release, bassist Les Claypool remarked that "It seems of late that bands are adding supplemental DVD material to their album releases to promote record sales. We've done the opposite. We've added a supplemental audio recording of brand new music to an extremely comprehensive DVD of classic visuals."
Antipop is the sixth studio album by American rock band Primus. It was released on October 19, 1999, through Prawn Song Records and Interscope Records. Produced by the band, Tom Morello, Stewart Copeland, Tom Waits, Matt Stone, and Fred Durst, it was the final release by the band before their hiatus from 2000 to 2003. It was also their last album with drummer Brain. The album received mostly positive reviews from critics.
Frizzle Fry is the debut studio album by American rock band Primus. It was released on February 7, 1990, by Caroline Records. Produced by the band and Matt Winegar, the album was recorded at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco in December 1989. In 2015, Primus frontman Les Claypool ranked Frizzle Fry as his favorite Primus album.
Prawn Song Records is an independent record label owned by Les Claypool of Primus. The name and logo are a parody of Led Zeppelin's label Swan Song Records.
Sausage was a short-lived alternative/funk rock band featuring a reunion of the 1988 lineup of the San Francisco Bay Area band Primus. They released the album Riddles Are Abound Tonight in April 1994 through the Interscope Records imprint Prawn Song Records.
Hallucino-Genetics: Live 2004 is the first concert DVD from Primus, released in October 2004. The show was filmed on June 26, 2004 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois, the band's last show of their 2004 tour. The performance features the original recording lineup of the band performing two sets, the second of which features the band playing their first studio album Frizzle Fry in its entirety.
Adam Gates is a graphic designer and musician from Orinda, California.
"John the Fisherman" is the debut single by American rock band Primus. It was first released on December 30, 1989 on the live album Suck on This, then re-released several months later on May 17, 1990, this time on their debut studio album Frizzle Fry as the lead single.
They Can't All Be Zingers is a greatest hits compilation album by Primus. It was released through Interscope Records on October 17, 2006, the same day that their DVD Blame It on the Fish was released.
"Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers" is a song by the American rock band Primus. It was released as the third single from their 1991 album Sailing the Seas of Cheese. Unlike its preceding singles "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" and "Tommy the Cat", "Tweekers" did not feature an accompanying video. The song opens with Larry LaLonde on guitar and a reserved bassline from Les Claypool, from there alternating between his trademark slap bass and a quiet section for the vocals.
Lie Lie Live is a digital download EP by System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian exclusively on Rhapsody featuring live tracks, and remixes. There is no known promo release of this EP, however Warner Chappell released a promo sampler containing all the remixes in unmastered form.
Videoplasty is the third home video by Primus, following 1993's Cheesy Home Video and the fan club exclusive Horrible Swill. Videoplasty was released at the end of 1998 to complement the band's recent covers EP Rhinoplasty, and is composed mostly of highlights from a live show performed on October 14 that year at The Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, California. This live footage is interspersed with montages of clips filmed during previous tours and at other recent shows, footage shot backstage and in the studio, animations by bassist Les Claypool, and the band's then-current music videos, spanning the previous two years back to the recording of the Brown Album and presented in approximate reverse-chronological order.
Green Naugahyde is the seventh studio album by rock group Primus, released by ATO Records and Prawn Song on September 12, 2011, in Europe, and on September 13, 2011, in the United States. It is the band's first album since 1999's Antipop, and features their first new material since 2003's Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People EP. It is the only Primus album to feature Jay Lane on drums, as he left the band in September 2013.
"Tragedy's a' Comin'" is the first single from Green Naugahyde, the seventh studio album by rock band Primus. It marked the band's first new material since 2003's Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People EP. It is their first single in 12 years.
The Desaturating Seven is the ninth studio album by American rock group Primus, released on September 29, 2017. It is the band's first album of original material since 2011's Green Naugahyde, and is the only LP featuring original material written with drummer Tim Alexander since 1995's Tales from the Punchbowl.
Conspiranoid is a three-track EP by the American rock band Primus, released on April 22, 2022. Released on vinyl and CD, this EP includes the band's longest song to date "Conspiranoia", clocking in at eleven minutes; it was released as a single on April 5, 2022, alongside a music video created by Cage Claypool, the son of Primus vocalist and bassist Les Claypool. It is also Primus' last release with drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander before leaving the band for the third time in October 2024.